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You may be interested in understanding the scope and impact of our
current global epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes or what should
be called” diabesity.”
You may want to understand the social, political, or economic factors
that continue to fuel this epidemic and what we can do about them.
You may be a policy maker, health care organization, educator, or religious
leader looking for a solution.
You may be a scientifically curious health care consumer or health
care practitioner who wants to better understand the biology of obesity
and diabetes and why it is so difficult to find an effective solution,
despite the advances of modern medicine.
You may want to create or join a group or be part of a grass-roots
social movement to change the course of this epidemic.
Or you may simply be looking for a practical solution and program
to lose weight and reverse your own type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.
We face a problem that will touch almost everyone on the planet. It
is no secret we are in the middle of an explosive epidemic of obesity and
type 2 diabetes.
As a physician, scientist, educator, and citizen, I have struggled to
find a comprehensive solution. That is what motivated me to write this
book, The Blood Sugar Solution.
It is about much more than blood sugar. It is about getting to the
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While this book is primarily about obesity and type 2 diabetes, it can be
helpful for type 1diabetics who want to live a healthy blood sugarbalancing
lifestyle. Type 1diabetes is an autoimmune disease that results in
damage to the pancreas and lack of insulin production. Type 2 diabetes is
also an inflammatory disease, but it is a disease of too much insulin.
where your cells become numb to the insulin produced by the body.
This is called insulin resistance and often precedes the onset of type 2
diabetes by years or decades. This book is about type 2 diabetes and
insulin resistance, so whenever I refer to diabetes in this book, I am
referring to type 2 diabetes.
very root of the problem and providing a solution on a biological, personal,
social, and economic level.
The book opens with a simple quiz to help identify if you have
“diabesity.” Since one in two Americans has this problem, the answer
will likely be yes.
In Chapter 1 of Part I, “Understanding the Modern Plague,” I
explore the scope of the epidemic across the globe and its impact not
only on rich Western countries, but also on the developing world. In
Chapter 2, we will review the real biologic cause of the epidemicinsulin
resistance-and why our current approaches to the problem
don’t work.
In Chapter 3, I dispel the medical myths that prevent us from effectively
addressing the epidemic, for example, that obesity and type 2
diabetes are genetic, or that type 2 diabetes is not reversible, or that
medication is effective in preventing or treating diabetes and related
diseases.
In Chapter 4, I explore new research on the biology of food addiction
and why food cravings and overeating are not your fault. This
brings into question our food marketing practices and their impact on
children and childhood obesity.
In Chapter 5, I explore how Big Food, Big Farming, and Big Pharma
fuel the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and chronic disease across the
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The Ultra Wellness Quiz: Discover
The Root Causes of Weight Gain and Diabetes
This book will help you understand and treat the underlying causes of
weight issues and diabetes and almost any chronic health problem. Inside
this book are special quizzes that together make up The UltraWeliness
Quiz. It is the key to discovering the cause and the cure of all your health
problems and creating a clear personalized path to health. The science
behind this, functional or whole systems medicine, allows you to discover
the true source of your health issues through a specific set of quizzes.
The UltraWeliness Quiz can be filled out in the book, but I encourage
you to go to www.bloodsugarsolution.com and fill out the quiz online to
get and track your UltraWeliness Score and start on your road to lifelong
health and vitality.
globe, creating an “obesogenic” environment, and explain what we
collectively can do about it.
In Chapter 6, I introduce a new science-based model of whole systems
medicine, a road map for addressing chronic disease in the twentyfirst
century called functional medicine, which treats the underlying
biologic causes of obesity and diabetes. It applies the advances in personalized
medicine, genomics, and systems biology in a practical road
map for diagnosing, treating, and reversing disease. It is medicine
focused on causes and mechanisms, not location in the body and symptoms.
We treat the system and not just the symptoms. We treat the soil
or the terrain and not the plant. It is extraordinarily effective for obesity
and type 2 diabetes.
In Part II, “The Seven Steps to Treating Diabesity,” I explain the
latest scientific advances in our understanding of the biology of obesity
and diabetes, advances that allow us to discern the root biological causes
of the problem. Obesity and diabetes are the result of many different
causes, including nutritional, hormonal, immunological, inflammatory,
and digestive imbalances, as well as environmental toxins, metabolic
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dysfunction, and stress. Each of these either separately or collectively
may be involved in your particular case. Finding out which problems you
have through the quizzes in Part II, and personalizing your approach, is
critical to healing.
In Part III, “The Blood Sugar Solution: Preparation,” you will learn
how to prepare your mind, body, and kitchen for the six-week program;
how to get together to get healthy by creating or joining a small
support group; and finally how to take a measure of your health through
The Blood Sugar Solution quiz and laboratory tests, which will help you
understand the cause and severity of your diabesity.
Part IV, “The Six-Week Action Plan,” is a practical six-step, six-week
program you can do on your own, or in partnership with your health
care provider. It also shows you how to create a community of support
for yourself Support and feedback from a group of people make the program
more fun and effective and the change more sustainable.
The six-week action plan outlines:
It How to identify the underlying causes of insulin resistance and
diabesity in yourself
lel Personalized self-care therapeutic treatments to help you address
your unique underlying causes of diabesity
w; How to change your diet to reverse the problem and use food as medicine
~ A delicious, easy-to-follow menu plan with recipes and shopping
lists included
in Which supplements and medication to take in order to improve and
optimize insulin function and blood sugar balance
!it How to use exercise more effectively and more efficiently
l!! Stress-reducing tools to reverse diabesity
&II How to address and reduce your exposure to and your body burden
of environmental toxins
;r, Which tests to get to determine whether you have a problem
•• How to work with your doctor so you can get the information, tests,
and treatments you need to address the problem effectively and use
medications intelligently when needed
n-
!!
fi I
I,
!
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Note: Following this six-week action plan can radically lower your blood
sugar and cause low blood sugar if you are on medication. If you are currently
taking medication and wish to follow the program, it’s important
that you monitor your blood sugar carefully and work with your doctor as
needed. It is possible you will need to reduce the amount of medication
you are taking. Changes in medication should only be done with the help
and supervision of your physician.
l’l Instructions on how to take advantage of our online support tools
and community at www.bloodsugarsolution.com
t’l How to get healthy for life
Part V is a manifesto, a call to action, and a plan for us as individuals,
families, communities, schools, workplaces, and faith-based groups to
“Take Back Our Health.” A diverse community-based movement is
the only way to effectively reverse this epidemic. This will ultimately
be necessary if we are to help not only ourselves, but also our children
and their children. To paraphrase my friend Hillary Clinton, it takes a
village to get healthy.
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